Assad losing control as 10,000 soldiers desert Syrian military
Scores killed in Tuesday's clashes, including 14 troops ambushed by opposition.
By Avi Issacharoff and Amos Harel Tags: Bashar Assad Syria Arab SpringMore than 10,000 soldiers have deserted the Syrian army, sources say, with as many as half the conscripts not reporting in the last three call-ups.
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A demonstrator protests against Syria's President Bashar Assad in Damascus, earlier this week. |
| Photo by: Reuters |
According to Western intelligence agencies, even though the top brass is still loyal to President Bashar Assad, lower-level officers are deserting in large numbers, and in some cases, whole units have deserted en masse.
The army is considered the main factor safeguarding Assad's regime, after mass protests began in the south in March and spread throughout the country, inspired by the demonstrations elsewhere in the Arab world.
On Tuesday, at least 73 people were killed in Syria in clashes between the army and opposition, most of them in Homs in the west and Idlib in the northwest. The 73 dead added to the 100 who were killed on Monday, among them 14 soldiers ambushed by opposition forces, human rights groups said.
The groups added that Assad's forces were transferring wounded opposition activists from hospitals to army bases to prevent them from testifying to Arab League observers expected to arrive under a deal struck on Monday.
The observers would ensure that the army and opposition adhere to a cease-fire and end the violence.
A new law imposes the death penalty on anyone "smuggling arms to be used in terrorist activity."
Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak predicted this month that the Syrian regime would collapse within weeks. Barak said it was impossible to know who would rule Syria in the future, but in any case it would be a blow to the alliance between Iran and Lebanese Shi'ite group Hezbollah.
Another sign of the Syrian regime's frailty is Hamas' decision to move its headquarters from Damascus, as the Palestinian group that runs the Gaza Strip prepares for a possible post-Assad era.
More than 5,000 people have been killed in the unrest in Syria, most of them anti-Assad activists; in recent days dozens have been killed every day, on average. Still, the army has suffered many losses, mainly from ambushes by opposition forces and ex-soldiers. In some remote districts the opposition groups are getting stronger and the army is having problems operating.
The opposition is still weak in the two large cities, Damascus in the south and Aleppo in the north. The Syrian Republican Guard, concentrated mostly in Damascus, is well armed and considered loyal to Assad, making it more difficult to organize demonstrations in the capital.
Still, even in Damascus, rockets have been launched at army vehicles.
One of the main worries in the West is the fate of the army's rocket and missiles caches, as well as its chemical weapons. According to several media reports, Hezbollah has transferred several long-range missiles from Syria to Lebanon.
In the 2006 Second Lebanon War, Hezbollah fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israel.
At this stage there is no proof that Hezbollah has transferred chemical weapons. Chemical weapons are not easy to maintain and handle, and as far as is known, Hezbollah does not have such expertise.
Israeli Military Intelligence recently presented the government with a report stating that unrest in Arab states will continue into next year. Military Intelligence says the unrest might topple the regimes in Syria and Yemen; in Yemen, outgoing President Ali Abdullah Saleh still has not relinquished all his powers despite the uprising in that Arabian Peninsula country.
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The dictatorship is a clan called Alawites. Assad is a dictator that for years paid lip service to the so-called resistence to stay in power. He needs to go and should be tried as a criminal and thug. He has bank accounts in the $billions outside Syria when Syrians are hungry.
and set up a regime loyal to Iran, which will mean the removal of the Assad regime so as to enable the loyalty of the people Either way the squeaky bum part of this is the chemical and biological weapons assad's regime owns and whether if he knows he is on the way out launches the Alawite version of the Samson Option
It's funny that this report is ONLY found on Haaretz, not even in arab news outlets... What are your sources?
After the hero of Damascus!
wanting Assad gone by mad action in style of Lybia and have CIA-made terrorists run chaotic state as your neighbour?
Who's got the highest bid?
Does not matter how many ! Syrians will triumph and Israel (official !) will regret Assad, the 'king of Israel'
If you knew history which you don't, you would know Damascus was no more. and Israel is still shielded.
assad is great
It was a brave act of the soldiers to abandon the Assad dictatorship.
Assad is a dead man walking, his regime will fall as men and support drips away, until he is left like Saddam and Quaddafi desperatly hiding from the vengeance of his own people.
...unknown Syrian oppositions groups that have been caught with spreading false info on a daily basis. You should know that a figure of 10,000 defectors would mean total chaos. And guess what: the situation is not anywhere near a total chaos.
you come ass irrational, extreme, and reckless with statements like "And guess what: the situation is not anywhere near a total chaos." meanwhile atleast dozens are killed every day, it's beyond chaos and you're in horrible denial.
What sources do you have that makes you know better?
While there is indeed chaos in a great number of places, in most parts of Syria including the capital, daily life is going on almost undisturbed. Of course TV won't show that, why should it. I also agree that the news of 10,000 defectors seems mere speculation.
I hear that he will be opening up a clinic soon in London for Syrians who have had an eye gouged out!
At last, a sign of real hope-- when an army refuses to continue to fight its own people.
more wishful thinking from haaretz. the world outside your own minds seems to tell a very different story, and we know which one matters. so what's the point?
And how do you connect the zionists and the Arab Spring? Just in your conspiracy head. But guess what, this kind of blaming everything to the Jews is not new for us. It is us that killed Jesus, it is us that drank children's blood, it is us that caused the great depression, we invented the Holocaust, we kill Arabs, and now we screw up countries. Make the reality check, at least today its easy, just google the facts.
Fake
before he could move his right hand assad was punched by his left hand,just when they thought that they could piggy back the arab spring and attack israel from the back they are now fighting an insurgency similar to one the americans faced in vietnam-a sunni -israeli alliance could certainly chase assad and company all the way to hell
Ha! Killing unarmed civilians is one thing. Having to stand your ground and shoot back is another.
To number 9, drema on, no peace deal, no life, you will be dealing wih the salafi , wahabist fanatic muslims, who know nothing but death and abuse to all. You will regret not making any deal with Assad. At any rate, Assad will be staying for long time!!!
As a Sunni muslim who has many Israeli and Jewish friends around globe as well as christians and Shia muslims, your comments are imature and dramatised. In your world, its better to rule over a majority with brutality, corruption,priveledges fir the few and if majority want freedom and justice then you resort to blind support to Assad,his cronies, one party rule let alone supporting the attricities taking place ... anything bad or negative is blamed on Israel, USA or salafist and fanatical muslims ... did i get it right for you or did i miss anything?
The Golan is of strategic importance and a peace deal that would give it up would never take place with Islamist rule in Syria. Otherwise it means the eventual slaughter of a milion peope in the areas overlooked by the Golan. So basically it wont ever happen.
The syrian army has well over 2,000,000 soldiers (including conscripts). Roughly 100,000 are special forces, Division 4, republican guard etc. Even if this info is true, (which is probably not- given all the false propaganda right from the onset) 10,000 defectors do not signal Assad losing control
I rather believe your numbers are somewhat inflated. The actual strength of the Syrian Army is about 200,000, and a number of 100,000 special forces is something Assad can only dream of. The fact that he has been unable so far to crush the current uprising is a writing on the wall. The poorly performing army can not save him.
You know the lie of defections come from what ? The first who give this lie is aljazeera because they can not cover the killing of syrian police as saying "they have been killed because they refuse to shoot to protester" which is a hilarious arguments by the way .And because of the fact they cant cover the armed gunmen , then they say its syrian defectors which now are killing their brothers in arms , just lol I repeat they are no defections in the syrian army , and syrian army are fighting armed terrorists
in which planet are you living? the entire world is blammng Syria.. (apart from Iran and Hezballah).why is Syria not allowing foreign media in the country to support your allegations of "armed terrorists". If you really mean what you said i feel sorry for you fot the brainwash that started 40 years ago. what credibility does a nation has when the president successor is his son???
the syrian government must be desparate indeed if they are posting on the mortal enemy's journals. do they read jpost as well???
Yea, Sure Assad is a humanitarian, he is like Mother Theresa and Gandhi rolled into one!
Wow! Ya think? Might topple regimes in Syria and Yemen? And who'd have ever thunk it? Well let's see now, Israeli intelligence hasn't really be too impressive lately - other than torture "confessions" by Palestinians. I don't think I'd be placing too much faith in their assessments of Israel's neighbors...other than the completely obvious, of course...like Syria and Yemen.
It is not sad to say good bye to Assad. Good bye and dont come back become a dentist in Iran on pigs
Let them all march on Hezbollah.
We already knew that Israel would prefer to have young Americans die for Israel rather than young Israelis, but we never thought we would get to the point where Israel's supporters were wishing for young Syrians to die for Israel.
The Syrian people are not Assad. The Syrian people want freedom and just to be able to live in peace with their neigbours and surroundings. And I feel the same way for the Palestinians. It is governments that want wars not the people. Israel has been in a state of war with her neighbours since Nov 29 1947 because the Arab governments wanted war not the people.
Israel is engaged in the process of taking land not giving it back. There are still plenty of Israelis that are still smarting over the Gaza withdrawal even though that had less strategic value to Israel than the Golan heights does.
And it won't be any kind of mellow Syria that follows Assad.
I fully agree with you it is govermentSSS who want wars.. I hope that Israeli goverment relinquish the Golan for a just peace with a new Syrian goverment and jerusalem and the west bank for a peace with the palestinians..Israel's economy is flourishing and I am sure that a peace with the Arabs will make Israel a leader in the region for its democracy and technology..
You got it all backwards, brother Arnold: it's Israel's Arab neighbors who have been at war with Israel since 1948, perpetuating the stressful conditions in the Middle-East. 'Governments' are not buildings, or monuments, they are made of people, the same people you say just want to live in peace. When some portions of the people get into places of power, they desire more power and when they have more power, they become dilusional about being able to push their neighbors around. People are people all over the world - and there are only two kinds: those WITH power and those WITHOUT. Which side do you want to be on? Why don't you try playing Texas Hold 'Em poker 24 hours straight, then you will understand the middle east better. Either you're 'all in', or you're all out - and you only get to play if you have high stacks of chips in front of you!
That would be a good step towards peace.
They can regroup and liberate the Golan Heights.
Ho, ho, ho...best joke of the month....
Israel will wipe the floor with them. What will you cry then, "occupation" ? Is there no risk or downside for them trying to liberate The Golan. You bet there's risk.
but that is not Damascus. it is Homs....false labeling photos or video is a very bad thing under any circumstances.
then he could have received some much needed experience in successfully oppressing arab populations that desire democracy.
As much as Assad hates Israel, unfortunately within Israel there are self hating Jews worst than him, including much of the journalists that work for a you-know-well newspaper & Internet site...
Oh, you are so clever! Actually, Israel could learn a lot from Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Algeria, etc about how to oppress arabs.
Assad should have been friendlier to "Hamas" (or "Hezbollah"). Then your post makes sense.
hareetz are shilling for Islamists, they were claiming to have had 10,000 soldiers months ago, this is a quote from an actual Syrian opposition member, not a British guy in London who happens to speak Arabic. "What for?" said one conference organizer, when asked about the rebels' absence. "Riad al-As'ad is in charge of maybe five guys." "The FSA is an empty cardboard box," said another participant. "It means nothing. And besides, if we want to try and win over the army, why would we bring the FSA here?"
How can any serious minded syrian express loyalty to the murderous assad regime ? The hama massacre proved that the assad family and its inner circle will stop at nothing to keep their grip on power; they are prepared to massacre every single syrian citizen in order to preserve the status quo.
was a tragedy inflicted upon the people of Hama by Muslim brotherhood terrorists who had been abducting and killing soldiers and policemen from the sewer openings for weeks, trying to turn Syria into Lebanon or Iraq, it was a battle for Syrias character and it needed to happen.
The hypocrisy, the blood thirstiness, it's all just overwhelming.
Syria is another issue, the Palestinian come first for you isreal! 64 years of killing inoccent pals
Innocent Pals? Tell me another joke, please....
Let us all focus on removing this pretend "American" from this site. He is actually the so called "innocent" Hamasi.